Build My Own World
by becauseihaveyourback
Summary: As children, Jane and Maura create imaginary friends to help them through the struggles of being an outcast. When their paths cross in adulthood, they both realize the special significance of their childhood playmates. Eventual Rizzles. Told in alternating childhood/present time chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**It's probably a bad idea for me to start another fic at the beginning of the semester like this but I'm doing it anyway. Had this idea and decided to run with it. The plan is to tell the story through alternating between childhood and present time every other chapter. Reviews are much appreciated- I love getting feedback! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"_Could I join your game, please?" the young girl asked with a hopeful smile._

"_Heh, yeah sure. We're playing 'Nerd.' Bet you'd be good at it!" one of the other children snickered, glancing around at her friends as they sneered to show their approval of the jab._

_Her face fell as she noticed her other classmates stop what they were doing to watch her be ridiculed._

"_Yeah, guys, let's all play with Maura the Bore-a!" another girl chimed in, resulting in riotous laughter from the rest of the group._

_The once hopeful little girl turned and ran before anyone could see the tears falling from her eyes._

"_Aw, come on back, Maura! We were hoping you could read to us from the dictionary!"someone else called after her, high-fiving her friends triumphantly._

_Maura kept running, into the building, past her classroom. She didn't know that she was going to the library until she was already there, sneaking past the front desk and entering the bathroom near the reference section. The young girl gently pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and wiped the tears from her eyes. She pulled down another and blew her nose, trying desperately to clear away the physical remnants of the embarrassment that she had just experienced._

_She stared at herself in the mirror, barely recognizing the blotchy, red face of the girl who stared back at her. This morning, she had been so hopeful. It was a new day, a new school year, and a new opportunity to finally make friends. She had worn her favorite of the new dresses and shoes that her mother had purchased for her the week prior, and she had rehearsed all of the different ways that she could introduce herself to her new classmates. Maura had been hopeful that maybe, just maybe, this year would be different. She had been wrong. Again._

"_Maura Isles? Your mother is here to pick you up," an older woman, who Maura recognized as one of the librarians, said as she entered the bathroom. Constance Isles, Maura's mother, was with her._

"_Why are you not outside playing with the other students?" the librarian asked sternly._

_Maura looked up at her, feeling her lower lip beginning to quiver at the memory of why she had come running into the bathroom._

"_No one will play with me," she said softly, her large hazel eyes filling with tears._

_Constance looked apologetically at the librarian as she took a step towards her daughter and leaned down to place a hand on her shoulder._

"_Maura, dear," her mother whispered, "we mustn't burden others with our problems. We will discuss this privately. Now, say goodbye to Mrs. Rummstein."_

_The little girl looked up at the librarian and managed a quiet 'goodbye' before following her mother out to the parking lot and into their car. They drove home in silence, without even the classical music that Maura's mother typically enjoyed listening to in the car. When they got home, Maura began to head towards her bedroom, but was stopped by her mother's gentle touch._

"_Darling, come sit with me. In the living room."_

_The little girl followed her mother obediently, sitting next to her on the couch. Constance wrapped an arm around her daughter and hugged her to her side, smiling sadly when Maura snuggled closer and began crying softly._

"_Why don't they like me?" she asked as her tears soaked into her mother's dress._

_Constance felt her heart breaking for her daughter, but she knew that she had to be firm if Maura was to stand a chance in the real world._

"_Maura, my darling, you must learn that not everyone in this world is kind. Some simply can't be bothered to interact with anyone different from themselves."_

"_I don't need everyone to be kind, mother. Only someone. Anyone," Maura quietly pleaded. "And I don't _want_ to be different."_

"_You mustn't say that, Maura. You don't see it now, but one day you will. You _are_ different, and you must accept that. You must embrace it. You mustn't let anyone change who you are, do you understand? I know it will be difficult, darling, but it's how it must be."_

_Constance leaned over to gently place a kiss into Maura's honey blonde curls, then sent her to her bedroom to finish her homework. As Maura effortlessly completed the assignments, she began speaking to the empty room. Although, to Maura, the room was far from empty._

"_It's nice to meet you, J," she said with a smile. "My name is Maura."_

* * *

"_Jane's _always_ on your team, Frankie! It's our turn!" Giovanni Gilberti whined._

_Frankie Rizzoli just laughed and shook his head._

"_She's always on _my_ team because she's _my_ sister!" he said, tossing the ball to his friend with a triumphant grin._

"_I'm afraid Janie isn't going to be playing on _anyone's_ team, today," Angela Rizzoli stated as she walked over to the baseball field with an angry looking young girl trailing behind._

"_Why not, Ma?" Tommy Rizzoli questioned as he laid down his bat._

"_Show them your arm, Jane," the older woman instructed._

_Jane Rizzoli glared at her brothers as she held up her right arm, which was covered up to her elbow in a very bright, very pink cast._

"_Nice one, Frog Face," one of the boys from Giovanni's team said with a smirk, wandering over to stand next to Jane. "Nice pink cast, too!"_

"_Joseph Grant, you apologize right now or I'll tell your mother!" Angela scolded, unaware of the snarl that had crossed her daughter's face._

_Before Joey had time to apologize, Jane's cast had collided with his jaw and the young boy was trying not to cry._

"_JANE CLEMENTINE RIZZOLI!" Angela's voice echoed across the whole baseball field, and Jane shrunk back at the sound._

"_You have _two seconds_ to apologize!" her mother commanded._

"_Sorry," Jane mumbled._

"_You'd better mean it!" Angela threatened._

"_I'm sorry!" Jane yelled, throwing up her hands in defeat._

_Her mother stared at her intently for a minute, then said,_

"_You can stay and _watch_, but if I catch you anywhere near that field, Jane Cleme-"_

"_Yes!" Jane exclaimed excitedly, running towards the bleachers._

_Her mother rolled her eyes and walked across the street to their home, checking back over her shoulder to make sure that her daughter was still seated, then went inside to start cooking dinner for her family._

_After a few minutes, Jane was bored._

"_Can't we do something else? Something I can actually _play_?" she yelled out to her brothers and her friends, all of whom were boys._

"_You can't play _anything _with a broken arm!" Giovanni yelled back as the boys continued their game._

"_Aw, come on!" Jane whined._

"_Let us finish our game first, Janie! Then we'll do something else!" Frankie called to his sister._

"_Yeah, let's play basketball next!" Joey suggested._

"_Hey, I can't play basketball with a broken arm!"_

_The boys all looked around at each other, trying to decide what they should do. Jane was their friend, but they certainly didn't want to sit around on the bleachers all day playing with Barbies.  
"Go find a _girl_ to play with, Rizzoli!" Joey teased from the safety of the pitcher's mound._

"_Shut up, Joey, or I'll come out there and hit you again!" Jane snarled._

_The boys took turns laughing at Joey's fearful expression, but continued their baseball game. Jane was left alone on the bleachers. Her dark brown curls were blowing into her face, so she tried to tuck them out of the way. With only one arm to work with, she gave up pretty quickly._

"_Dammit!" the little girl exclaimed in frustration._

"_I'm telling Ma!" Tommy yelled at her, changing his mind when he saw the death glare that she shot his way._

_Jane stormed off the bleachers and over to the playground where a group of girls were playing in the sand. She didn't want to play with them, but she was dreadfully bored watching the boys have all the fun._

"_Hey, do you guys want to play tag?" she called to the girls._

"_We're playing house!" one of them called to her. "You can play with us, if you want!"_

_Jane looked back over her shoulder to make sure the boys weren't watching, then walked over and sat down in the sandbox. _Better than nothing, I guess,_ she thought to herself._

"_So, how do you play?" she asked them, her cheeks turning bright red when they began to laugh at her._

"_You don't _know_ how to play house?" one of the girls asked, incredulous._

"_If I knew, I wouldn't have asked!" Jane retorted._

"_Well, _I'm_ the mommy, and since _you're_ new, you have to be the daddy. And _they_ are our children. Except for Bridget. She's our puppy!" one of the girls explained._

_Jane's eyebrows raised in disbelief as a younger girl with red hair made her way over towards Jane on all fours, sticking her tongue out and barking like a dog._

"_You have _got _to be kidding me," Jane mumbled._

_Now the girls looked annoyed._

"_You know, you don't have to play with us if you don't _want_ to," one of them said, crossing her arms._

_Now it was Jane's turn to be annoyed._

"_Fine!" she yelled as she stood up and marched away, "I don't want to play your stupid game anyway!"_

_She could hear the girls talking about her as she stormed away, but she didn't care. She _was_ kind of lonely, though. As the little brunette wandered over and sat down under the shade of the biggest tree she could find, she started talking to a little girl who she had just met. It just so happened that Jane was the only one who knew she was there._

"_You dress funny, M, but I _guess_ I'll be your friend," Jane said, rolling her eyes but still smiling happily. "I'm Jane."_


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, well, well," Detective Frost teased as his partner wandered into the office with her arm in a sling, "Look who decided to show up for work today. How's the arm, Rizzoli?"

Jane glared at him, grumpily dropping into her chair and wincing when her arm bounced off her chest from the force. Frost tried to hide his laughter but was unsuccessful.

"Oh, ha ha, Jane sprained her wrist again," Jane intoned sardonically, looking around at all of her fellow police officers as they tried desperately to avoid eye contact.

"What are _you_ looking at?" she snapped at a young man that she didn't recognize, sending him scampering out of the office in terror.

"Take it easy, Jane," Sergeant Korsak said with a chuckle. "You don't want to go scaring off _all_ the new guys."

Jane pouted.

"Yeah, well, this sucks."

"Hey, at least it's your right arm," Frost tried, "so you can still write and stuff."

She shot him another glare.

"Great," she mocked, "so I can still do paperwork. Yippee."

Frankie strolled into the office with a teddy bear and plopped it down onto her desk with a grin. The bear had its right arm in a sling to match his sister's.

"Here you go, Janie. Got you a friend," he joked, "and you better stop being so grouchy or I'll go get Ma."

Jane slapped him with her good arm.

"Don't you dare!" she threatened with a menacing point of her finger.

Frankie threw his arms up in mock terror.

"Oooh, I'm so scared of your one arm!" he teased, stepping backwards to avoid another swat.

When Jane reached down to answer her phone, Frankie took the opportunity to pick up the teddy bear and tuck it into the crook of Jane's injured arm. As annoying as her little brother was, Jane couldn't help smiling a little at the gesture. A _little_.

"Rizzoli," she snapped into the phone. "Be right there!"

She stood up from her chair and grabbed her jacket, stopping mid-step when she realized that she couldn't put it on with one hand.

"I'll do it, Janie," Frankie offered, taking his big sister's blazer and draping it over her injured arm, then helping her stick her left arm through the sleeve.

"Thanks, Frankie," Jane mumbled, embarrassed that she needed the help.

"We've got a floater," Frost announced, taking the attention away from his partner. "Down at the docks. Let's move."

"Oh, hey! I forgot! Today's the day we get to meet the new medical examiner!" Korsak exclaimed as they made their way towards the elevators. "Seems fitting that we'll get to meet her at a crime scene."

"Another woman?" Jane asked.

Frost grinned at her.

"Why, Jane? Are you sexist?" he teased.

"Shut up, jerk!" she joked.

She knew he hated the last medical examiner as much as she did. Probably even more, considering how she had led him on for four months before telling him that she was engaged. Jane's problem with her was that she had constantly been trying to play makeup artist and fashion expert to "enhance" the detective's decidedly unremarkable wardrobe. She wouldn't let Jane into the autopsy room unless she was wearing "fashion forward choices", and since that never happened, Jane very rarely got to even go into the autopsy room.

More importantly, the woman had hated her job. She only took the position because it was in a "more appealing location" than the other job she had been offered, and Jane was pretty sure that she didn't care enough to do her work properly. It only made Jane's job that much more difficult.

"You know I'm not sexist, Frost," she said seriously, "but I swear if we've got another Karaline on our hands, I'm quitting."

"Me, too," Frost agreed.

"Well, both of you can stop complaining, because her name isn't Karaline. It's Maura. Dr. Maura Isles," Korsak interrupted, "and I've heard that she's the best of the best. You at least owe her a chance. Both of you."

* * *

Dr. Maura Isles had worked as a medical examiner before, but she was excited to be returning to Boston with the title of Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was good to be back in a familiar place, doing what she loved. She was optimistic about the new job, as she had heard very positive things about the homicide unit of the Boston PD, but she was also excruciatingly nervous. Meeting new people always made her nervous. The dead she could handle. The living… that was different.

The medical examiner took a few deep breaths before getting out of her car, then carefully made her way over to the crime scene, stopping to check in before crossing the tape.

"Hey, lady, you can't go in there!" an authoritative female voice called from behind her.

She turned around to see an angry brunette yelling at her, one arm in a sling and the other thrown up questioningly into the air. She had a badge on her belt, so the ME knew that she was a cop. Maura thought about flashing her badge at the woman and proceeding into the crime scene, but decided that perhaps she should introduce herself. This would likely be someone that she would find herself working with on a daily basis, so she would try to get things off on the right shoe. Was that right? No, no. The right foot.

She smiled as she pulled out her own badge and walked over to the detective with a polite smile.

"I just wanted to come over and introduce myself. I'm Dr. Maura Isles," she said with an outstretched hand.

The other woman seemed to give her the once-over and Maura noticed her upper lip wrinkle with… was that contempt? It was gone quickly, so the medical examiner decided to ignore it.

"Detective Rizzoli," the brunette offered shortly, shaking the ME's hand firmly.

Maura couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt something very familiar and very comforting when she grasped the detective's hand. _Maybe the living won't be so bad here, after all,_ she thought to herself with a smile.

* * *

_Jesus, Mary and Joseph,_ Jane thought to herself as she looked at the new medical examiner. _That dress probably costs more than my monthly paycheck and I don't even want to think about those shoes. Better not be another damn Karaline._

"Detective Rizzoli?"

Jane snapped out of her grumpy thoughts and back to reality.

"Yeah, doc?"

Dr. Isles seemed a bit flustered by the way Jane had addressed her. The detective watched in amusement as the medical examiner seemed to decide whether or not she felt it was appropriate for her to be referred to as 'doc'. She must have decided that she didn't care, because she ignored it when she spoke.

"I was wondering if you could introduce me to the rest of your colleagues. It may be helpful for me to have an idea of who I'll be working with before I actually… well, I guess I am actually working with you now, but…"

"Sure," Jane replied casually, grabbing Dr. Isles by the arm and guiding her, rather more roughly than the doctor was used to, over towards where Frost and Korsak were standing near the body.

"Frost, Korsak!" she called to them.

The two men looked up from their conversation to see the two women approaching. Frost looked like he was going to be sick, and seemed to welcome the distraction from the body.

"This is Dr. Isles. Doc, this is my partner, Detective Frost, and this is Sergeant Korsak."

They shook hands with the doctor, exchanging glances with each other in their attempts to discern Jane's thoughts about the new ME.

"Frost has a weak stomach, so don't take it personally if he pukes," Korsak said, teasing the younger man.

"Oh, please not in the crime scene, Detective!" Dr. Isles exclaimed. "Forensic evidence is so easily contaminated. You wouldn't believe how many cases are thrown out completely because of contamination or mishandling of evidence. Research actually suggests that modern procedures for securing crime scenes can actually be harmful to the case, if not handled by an officer who understands the proper care and preservation of evidence. "

The three cops just looked at each other, until Jane nudged Frost.

"I'll, uh… I'll keep that in mind, Dr. Isles," he promised.

The medical examiner smiled encouragingly at Detective Frost.

"I'm sure you'll be just fine, Detective. You seem like a very capable officer of the law."

Jane threw a hand up to hide her snicker. Dr. Isles's smile was replaced with a look of confusion and concern.

"Did I say something funny?" she asked honestly.

Jane wiped the smile off of her face.

"Um… no. No. I just… remembered something funny that happened to me… the other day," the detective fumbled, seeing Korsak and Frost laughing at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, I love a good story!" Dr. Isles followed up with an excited smile.

Jane couldn't tell whether the ME was calling her bluff or whether she was actually buying Jane's obvious lie, so she decided to proceed with caution.

"Yeah, I, um… you know, I can't really remember what I was thinking of that was so funny."

The doctor shrugged, only minimally disappointed.

"Well, the average amount of storage time in short-term memory is only about 15-20 seconds. I wouldn't heat yourself up over it, Detective," she said with a smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Heh, yeah, I sure won't... um... _heat_ myself up."

As the medical examiner began to make her way over to the body, Jane widened her eyes in a pointed look to Frost and Korsak, who shrugged their shoulders and followed after the ME.

_She's definitely weird,_ Jane thought,_ but something about her feels really familiar. Maybe I'll actually end up liking her._


	3. Chapter 3

"_You sure are a good draw-er," the little brunette said as she swung her legs like pendulums from where she sat, perched atop Maura's desk._

"_I don't think that's how you say it, J," Maura replied without looking up from her paper. "I think you're just supposed to say that I'm really good at drawing."_

"_Yeah, that's what I said," J responded with a grin. "I said you were a good draw-er."_

"_But I don't think 'draw-er' is a word!"_

"_Well, it is now," the brunette declared, hopping down off of the desk to get a better look at her friend's drawing. "And whatever that thing is, it looks cool. Because you're a good draw-er."_

_This statement caused Maura to look up at her with a frown._

"Whatever_ it is? It's a heart!" she exclaimed, picking up the drawing and shoving it right up in front of J's face._

_J scrunched up her nose._

"_No, it's not. That doesn't look anything _like_ a heart," she argued._

_Maura rolled her eyes and carefully replaced her crayons back into their box, then stood up and pointed to her picture._

"_It's a _real_ heart, J," she explained, "not a _Valentine._"_

_Her friend still seemed confused._

"_But I thought Valentines were supposed to look like real hearts?"_

_Maura turned the picture back around so she could look at it, then squinted at it and tilted her head. After a moment, she shrugged and handed the picture to J._

"_I guess if you kind of close your eyes it looks like a Valentine," she said with a smile._

"_If you close your eyes, everything looks like everything!" J laughed._

_Maura seemed to consider this for a minute._

"_Wouldn't everything look like nothing? Since it's dark?" she asked seriously._

_J shook her head, then handed the picture back to Maura._

"_I guess so," she laughed, "but I never thought about it. Hey, what's that thing?"_

_She pointed to a little squiggly line running down the center of the heart._

"_It's an artery!" Maura exclaimed, clearly proud of herself. "I learned about it in health class."_

_Her friend raised an eyebrow and looked confused._

"_So, what does it do?" she questioned._

_Maura's face lit up with excitement at the idea of getting to teach her friend something new._

"_Well, the arteries carry blood away from the heart. So, the heart pumps it and the arteries take it to your body. And _then_, you have veins that bring the blood back."_

_J smiled at her new friend._

"_You sure know a lot of stuff, Maura," she said. "Wish I could remember all that. I'm lucky to remember my own name!"_

_Maura laughed._

"_But your name is only one letter!" she pointed out._

"_I know! That makes it even funnier!" J replied with a toothy grin._

_The two girls just laughed together for a moment until they were interrupted by the sound of Maura's mother._

"_Maura, it's time for school!" Constance called to her._

"_I have to go, J," Maura explained. She hesitated for a moment. "Will I see you after school?" she asked quietly._

_J grinned back at her._

"_I'll be right here!"_

* * *

_"Mrs. Shore?" a timid voice asked as the other students made their way out to the playground._

_The older woman looked up from her novel to see the shy face of Maura Isles peering up at her from the other side of her desk._

_"What can I help you with, dear?"_

_The little girl looked down at her feet when she next spoke._

_"Well, yesterday, during class, I peeked at one of the fifth graders' health books."_

_Her teacher looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue._

_"So, I started reading some of it. I was reading about the heart and the arteries. I learned about the blood and oxygen and everything."_

_Mrs. Shore smiled at the young girl, beginning to understand._

_"What did you think of it, Maura? Do you find the human body to be as fascinating as I do?_

_Maura's face lit up with excitement as she quickly nodded her head._

_"Oh, yes! I love learning new things, but I really love learning about health and science."_

_Her teacher looked a bit baffled by this statement._

_"I never would have guessed that by the way you behave in my class. It seems as though you're hardly ever paying any attention."_

_"No, I _do _pay attention!" Maura corrected, her eyes widening a bit at the thought that she was going to be scolded. "It's just that... well..."_

_"Well...?"_

_Maura lowered her eyes to look at her feet again as she spoke._

_"Sometimes you just say the same thing a lot of times. So I only pay attention to it the first time."_

_Mrs. Shore couldn't help laughing at this confession as she stood up and walked over to the other side of the desk, where Maura was._

_"Not all of the other students remember things as well as you do, Maura. In fact, most of them don't. I have to say things a few times to help them understand. To help them remember."_

_Maura nodded slowly, wanting desperately to ask her teacher the question that she had come here to ask, but still too afraid to actually ask it. _

_"I have an idea, Maura," Mrs. Shore began, knowing exactly what it was that Maura needed._

_"What if I let you borrow one of the fifth grade health books? You can take it home, if you like, and you can bring it in to class with you as well. When you finish your class work before everyone else, as you always seem to manage," the teacher said with a kind smile, "you can pull out your special book and learn some new things all on your own. And if there's something in there that you don't understand, you can come and ask me for help. How does that sound?"_

_Maura was beaming. She had just been hoping that Mrs. Shore would teach the class some of the things that she had seen in the fifth grader's book. She hadn't expected to be allowed to _borrow _one. And to be allowed to take it _home _with her? She could show it to J!_

_"Thank you, Mrs. Shore! I would love that!" she happily exclaimed._

_The teacher walked over to one of the desks at the back of the room and pulled a textbook from the book rack underneath. She checked inside to make sure that it was in satisfactory condition, then brought it over to Maura._

_"Maura?" she asked the excited, young child._

_"Yes, Mrs. Shore?"_

_"I'm just curious what you do with all of that knowledge. Why do you love learning things so much?"_

_Maura thought for a moment._

_"I think I just like to know things," she said with a shrug. Then something else seemed to occur to her._

_"Oh, I know!" she added. "I also like getting to teach things to my new friend, J. She thinks I'm really smart!"_

_Maura's face broke out into a wide, proud grin. Her teacher returned it, giving her a pat on the shoulder._

_"Well, Maura, your friend is definitely right about that."_

* * *

"_J! Look what I got at school!" Maura exclaimed as she rushed into her bedroom._

_The brunette raised her head up from its position on Maura's pillow to see what all the fuss was about._

"_Oh, cool. A book," she deadpanned._

_Maura ran over and hopped up onto the bed._

"_It's not just a _book_, J! Remember what I was telling you this morning? About the heart and the arteries?"_

_J nodded skeptically._

"_Well, this book has everything about the human body! The heart, the lungs, and it talks about why we get sick, too! I can't wait to read it," Maura said with a grin as she flipped through the pages excitedly._

"_Yeah, sure, sounds great," J teased._

"_I knew you'd love it!" Maura squealed._

_J looked at her for a minute._

"_I wasn't being serious, Maura."_

_The blonde frowned at her._

"_I don't understand. Why would you say that if you didn't mean it?"_

_J's expression changed from one of confusion to incredulousness._

"_It's… it's sarcasm, Maura. You've never heard of sarcasm?"_

_Maura blushed._

"_Oh… I've heard of it. I just don't get it, sometimes. It would just be easier if people would say what they meant."_

"_But then it wouldn't be as funny!" J exclaimed, rolling over and grinning two inches from Maura's face._

_Maura smiled and gave her a playful shove backwards. J decided it would be fun to pretend that Maura had super strength, so she did her best imitation of slow-motion falling off of Maura's bed and onto the floor. The blonde giggled at the show her friend was putting on until J started clutching her arm and crying out in pain._

"_J! Are you okay?" she asked, sliding down off of the bed and looking at her friend with concern._

"_This is the part where you have to use your magic book to heal me," J whispered, as if telling Maura an important secret._

_Relieved, Maura nodded and grabbed her new health book, excited to play along._

"_I don't know what to do," she whispered to J as she flipped through the pages, becoming frustrated that she couldn't play the game properly._

"_It's okay, Maura," J reassured her, reaching out to give her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder with the arm that she hadn't fake-injured. _

"_You're a genius doctor! You'll know just how to fix my arm!" she added with a wink._

_Blushing, Maura put down the book and reached over to examine her friend's arm._

"_Yes, it's definitely broken. You're going to need a cast," she said in her best imitation of a doctor._

_J sighed._

"_Aw, doctor, does that mean I can't do _THIS_?"_

_J leaped up and started tickling Maura with both hands, grinning proudly when Maura called a truce after only a minute or two. Maura was still giggling when J proudly announced,_

"_Guess it wasn't broken, after all!"_


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for checking out the fic- I hope you're all enjoying it! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the concept/mode of storytelling and all that. If you have any feedback for me, please feel free to leave me some reviews! They're always appreciated!**

* * *

"Excuse me, detective, but I think your sling has become a bit too loose. Would you like me to-"

"Whoa!" Jane exclaimed, jumping back before the medical examiner could touch her arm. "No, no, there's no need to fix it. I'm only wearing this thing for today, anyway. It doesn't have to be right."

Maura blinked.

"How long did your doctor instruct you to wear the sling?"

Jane chuckled.

"Doctor? No, no, no. I just put this on because I hurt my wrist pretty bad yesterday and I already had this thing lying around from the millions of other times I've sprained my wrist. Just figured I'd throw it on for the day and be back to normal by tomorrow."

Maura's jaw dropped in horror.

"Detective! You haven't seen a doctor? Your arm could be seriously injured! Many fractures and dislocations are characterized by the same symptoms that are present in a sprain. You could be doing far more harm than good by wearing that sling! It's very important that you go have this examined by a professional."

Maura noticed that Jane seemed to be a bit taken aback by her sudden outburst of concern. Of course, she had only met the woman a few hours ago, but this was an important matter. If there was a serious injury, the detective could very well-

"_You're_ a doctor."

Maura reflexively looked around the room, even though she knew that she and the detective were alone. Jane laughed, then pointed directly at her and raised her eyebrows for emphasis.

"Yes, I'm talking to _you_. You're a doctor, right?"

"Well… yes…"

"A professional?"

"I see where this is going, detective, but-"

Jane raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to answer the question. The medical examiner sighed as she relented.

"Yes, I am, but-"

"Couldn't you just take a look at it? And if it's something more serious than a sprain, I promise I'll go to a real doctor."

When she heard the phrase 'real doctor,' Maura's concern turned to offence.

"I _am_ a 'real doctor', Detective Rizzoli. I may be a different type of doctor than the one who will be putting a cast on that arm for you, but I assure you that I am very _real_."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… who said anything about a cast?"

Maura's jaw clenched and her eyes fluttered shut in her frustration. _This woman is impossible, _she thought to herself.

"Detective Rizzoli, I was not implying that you will necessarily be requiring a cast. I was simply saying that I am perfectly qualified to tell you whether or not you have a broken bone. It is my job to examine the bodies of the dead, and I need to be able to tell when any one of those bodies has a broken bone. Your broken bone would be no different from theirs."

"... So, you'll do it?"

Maura just stared at her for a moment, then rolled her eyes.

"Hold up your arm."

Jane tried to fist pump with her uninjured arm, but winced when the movement caused her to bump the sling into Maura's shoulder. The ME gave her an icy glare that Jane responded to with a sheepish grin. Maura was annoyed, but she was also moderately impressed that the detective had successfully used flattery to get her way.

"I can see what makes you a good detective. You're very good at manipulating people," Maura mused as she examined Jane's arm.

"Ow ow ow!" the detective replied, pulling her arm away. "I think I'll take that as a compliment?"

"You can take that any way you'd like to, detective, but your wrist is definitely broken."

Jane shook her head.

"What? No. No, it can't be broken. It's fine. It's just a little sprain, see?"

She tried to flex her wrist to show the medical examiner how fine it was, but she ended up scrunching up her face and biting down on her lip from the pain. Maura gave her a look that just screamed _I-told-you-so_.

"You need to go see a doctor and get some x-rays of that arm. I would do it myself, but that's a job for your _real_ doctor."

Maura smirked at the detective as she walked back over to the body that she had been about to autopsy before Jane had come in. That reminded her.

"By the way, detective-"

"Okay, I let you privately examine my injured wrist. I think that means we're close enough now for you to start calling me Jane."

The medical examiner smiled.

"By the way, _Jane_, what exactly did you come into the autopsy room for in the first place?"

The detective sighed.

"I was just… I was wondering… Listen, I just wanted to watch you do the autopsy."

Maura was caught off guard by this request. She was used to doing her autopsies in solitude, communing only with the body that she was examining.

"It's a standard autopsy, detec-"

Jane raised an eyebrow.

"_Jane_," Maura corrected with a submissive nod. "You're more than welcome to observe if you wish."

"Cool. No offence, doc, but I just kind of want to take a look at how you do your job. If you don't mind. It's not that I think you aren't _qualified_, it's just that the last ME made _my_ job a lot more difficult than it needed to be because _she_ couldn't be bothered to do things properly."

Maura smiled.

"I assure you that you will not be having that problem with me. I take every measure necessary to ensure that I do my job properly. When a body ends up on my table, they are no longer able to tell their own story. But _I_ can. I can tell it for them. And I will not let laziness or bias or impossibly stubborn detectives corrupt my ability and my duty to do just that."

Now it was Jane's turn to smirk at the ME.

"Okay, okay. Point taken, with the stubborn detectives thing. I get it. I'd still like to watch, though, if that's okay with you."

Maura nodded.

"I'm fine with it. Just don't contaminate the evidence. You'll need to have the proper attire."

The medical examiner pointed to a closet containing scrubs and a box of latex gloves, and Jane obediently went over and put them on as instructed.

"Do I look like a real doctor?" she joked.

Maura laughed, shaking her head as she bent down over the body.

"And hey, doc. Do I get to call you by _your_ first name now?"

She turned her head to look up from the body and stared quizzically at the detective.

"Do you even _know_ my first name?"

Jane shrugged.

"Sure. It's Maura. Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," the detective recited.

The medical examiner was pleasantly surprised. She was usually lucky if people even bothered to remember her last name, let alone be familiar enough to know her first. She gave a hesitant nod.

"Okay, then. You may refer to me as Maura."

Jane chuckled to herself.

"Well, okay, then. I will '_refer to you_ _as Maura'_, Maura," she mocked with a grin.

The medical examiner shook her head and rolled her eyes, allowing a small smile to cross her lips as she once again leaned down over the body to begin her examination.

She'd made a friend.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the first little Jane chapter! The next chapter should be up in a few days, still working on it but wanted to get this one out to you =) Let me know what you think!**

* * *

"_Come on, M, you_ have_ to come with me. I'll be so _bored_ if you don't."_

_M bit her lip, looking uncertain._

"_I don't know, Jane. I don't want to distract you, or get you into trouble. And I don't want to get _myself_ into trouble, either."_

_Jane rolled her eyes._

"_M. Come on. You're not going to get in trouble, and I can get _myself_ in trouble whether you're there or not. So you should probably just come."_

_M laughed, nodding her head._

"_I guess you have a point."_

_Then her expression turned serious as she pointed a finger at Jane's face._

"_But I'm _not_ telling you answers to your homework or tests."_

"_Awww, why not?" Jane whined._

_M looked at her sternly._

"Because_ I already know you're smart enough to do it yourself. You're_ _just too _lazy_."_

_Jane scowled._

"_You know I'm right," M said with a grin._

"_Okay, but if you're not going to help in class then you have to do whatever I tell you to do at recess."_

_M shook her head._

"_No way, Jane. I am _not_ promising that."_

"_Well, _fine_, then, _don't_ come with me."_

"_Okay," M said with a shrug, grinning. "I didn't want to go anyway."_

_Jane hadn't expected this response. She was desperate. She _knew_ recess would be _so_ boring without M to play with, since she couldn't play any sports because of her injured arm._

"_No, please come with me, M, pleeeeease?"_

_M smiled, her bluff having achieved the desired result._

"_Well. Since you asked nicely," M replied, walking over to stand by the doorway._

_Jane stared at her skeptically._

"_That's… that's not what you're wearing, is it?" she asked, pointing at M's dress and shiny shoes._

_M looked down at her outfit._

"_What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"_

"_M, you can't _play_ in those clothes. You'll get them all dirty."_

_M shook her head._

"_No, I won't. This is what I'm wearing. Or else I'm not coming."_

_Jane sighed._

"_Fine. Let's go."_

* * *

"_Jane Rizzoli. The answer to number seven, please."_

_Jane looked up from the doodle she had been drawing in her math book to see the smirks of her fellow classmates as her teacher called her out on her distraction._

"_Num… uh, number seven?" she stammered, flipping back through the pages._

_Her teacher nodded, staring her down from across the room._

_Jane glanced over towards the window, where M was sitting with her hands neatly folded in her lap. She smiled across the room at Jane, giving her the thumbs up. Jane smiled and cleared her throat._

_She took a brief look at the problem, then looked back up at her teacher with a wide, proud grin._

"_11."_

_Her teacher nodded, still glaring._

"_That's correct. But _you_ still need to pay attention, young lady."_

_Jane sunk down in her seat._

"_Yes, ma'am. Sorry."_

_She looked back over towards M again, sending a small smile her way. M was grinning proudly back at her, patiently waiting for the recess bell so that they could go play outside._

_When the bell rang a few minutes later, all of the students began rushing out the door. Jane waited patiently for M to join her, then made her way out to the playground._

_Outside, the boys were already racing each other across the grass. When Joey Grant looked up and saw Jane come out the door, his cheeks turned bright red and he pushed himself faster. His friends looked over in her direction and laughed._

"_Trying to impress your _girlfriend_, Joey?" they teased, laughing harder at the scowl that crossed his face._

"_Who, _Roly-Poly Rizzoli_? Ew, she's _not_ my girlfriend," he said, glaring at her._

_She made a face at him, holding up her arm to remind him of what happened last time he insulted her. He shrunk back._

_Jane looked over at M and smirked._

"_Like I'd _ever_ be his girlfriend. He thinks he's so impressive. He's _not_. But _I'm_ impressive," she bragged, taking off across the grass and forcing herself to run a little bit slower while M caught up._

_Once M matched her stride, she pushed faster so she could beat her to the imagined finish line around the corner of the building. When they got there, they both leaned over to catch their breath._

"_I didn't know… you were so _fast_, Jane," M said between breaths, smiling up at her. "I _guess…_ I'm impressed."_

_Jane gave her a playful shove with her uninjured arm._

"_Yeah, you _should_ be impressed. I'm _way_ faster than Joey. And you know what else? I'm not even scared that this is the _restricted_ area."_

_She grinned triumphantly, but her smile faltered when she saw the horrified expression on M's face._

"_What do you mean? We aren't supposed to be back here?" M asked, looking around in a panic._

_Jane rolled her eyes._

"_It's fine. I come back here all the time and no one ever sees me. I'm too fast. I just run away and then they never know it was me."_

_M's eyes were still wide with fright._

"_But, Jane, this is against the rules. We'll get in trouble if we get caught."_

_Jane shrugged, pretending she didn't care._

"_So?"_

_M just stared at her._

"_Are you trying to impress me?" she asked, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows._

"_Is it working?" Jane asked with a grin._

_M laughed at her._

"_If I say yes, can we go back to the playground?"_

"_Jane Rizzoli! What are you doing?"_

_Jane's face paled when she heard her teacher's voice._

"_Come on, M! Run!"_

_She took off back behind the building, but she heard her teacher's footsteps hitting the ground behind her. She looked over at M as they both ran, feeling sorry for getting her friend in trouble._

"_M," she said quietly, "go hide over there. I'll lure her away."_

"_I want to come with you!" M whispered back, shaking her head._

"_I'll keep you safe," Jane replied with a smile. "Go hide behind that tree. I'll come get you after."_

_M glanced over at the tree, then back at Jane._

"_If we stay together, we'll _both_ get caught. I can protect you," Jane said finally, shoving M off in the direction of the tree._

_She watched her friend hide behind the tree trunk, then skidded to a stop as her teacher came around the building in front of her._

"_Jane Rizzoli. How many times have I told you to stay in _front_ of the building?"_

_Jane sighed and her shoulders slumped. She was caught._

"_Sorry, Mrs. Taylor. Bench?"_

_Mrs. Taylor nodded._

"_Fifteen minutes."_

_As she walked back towards the playground, she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure M was safe. When she saw her friend safely concealed behind the tree, she gave her a smile and a wink, then turned back around and strutted off to face her punishment._

Bet she's impressed now,_ Jane thought to herself with a smile._


	6. Chapter 6

**... so obviously I didn't post this a few days after the last one like I thought I would hahaha. But I hope you enjoy it anyway and don't hate me too much for the wait! As always, your reviews are much appreciated! Got a little Maura chapter coming up next, which hopefully I should have done within the next week. Enjoy, and thanks for reading! =)**

* * *

Jane walked into the office with a scowl on her face and a cast on her arm. She glared around at Frost and Korsak, who were trying to stifle their laughter, and at the medical examiner who wasn't bothering to hide her smirk.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" Jane shot at Maura.

This caused Frost and Korsak to laugh even harder, and Maura to blush.

"I'm sorry, Jane. It's just…"

The detective raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"It's just that you look so _miserable_," she said with a chuckle.

"Oh, so now my _misery_ is amusing? That's great, everyone. Thank you."

"Jane-"

"And what are you even _doing_ up here? I don't see any dead bodies."

Maura frowned at her.

"There's no need to be rude, _detective._ I am certain that if any one of your colleagues walked around with their arm in a cast and _that_ expression on their face, you would be giving them the hard time, too."

Frost and Korsak looked away and pretended to be busy. Jane wasn't sure whether to be angry or impressed that the medical examiner was standing up to her. She decided to go with impressed, but that didn't mean she had to _tell_ anyone.

"Well… yeah, maybe I'd be giving them _a_ hard time. But you still didn't answer my question, _Maura_."

The medical examiner looked a bit flustered. Nervous.

"I just..."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence before her phone rang. And then they were all out the door and on their way to a crime scene. Jane couldn't help smiling at how nervous the medical examiner had looked when she was trying to explain herself. _It was kind of cute,_ she thought.

She felt her cheeks turn red as she realized what she had just thought, and _who_ she had just thought it about.

"You okay, Rizzoli?" Frost teased her as they climbed into her car.

She glared at him.

"Peachy."

* * *

"You're trying to tell me that _isn't_ blood?" Jane asked, her face a mixture of annoyance and skepticism.

"I most certainly did not say that. I said that it is a reddish-brown stain. The _crime lab_ will have to determine whether or not it is, in fact, blood."

Jane rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for crying out loud. _It's blood_. There's a _trail_ of it."

The medical examiner shook her head, getting slowly to her feet.

"It very well could be blood, but I cannot make a definitive statement until I have tested it."

The detective stared at her in disbelief.

"Okay, _fine_. It's _maybe_ blood. _If_ it is blood, do you think it came from our killer?"

Maura crossed her arms and looked away.

"I don't like to guess, Jane. And I don't like questions that begin with _if_."

Jane closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

_God, this woman is difficult._

"Okay. So. What _can_ you tell me?" she said, trying to bury her frustration.

It was weird, the detective realized, that she wasn't just completely snapping at Maura as she would have done to a number of other people she worked with. She usually felt no need to restrain her aggravation, but she felt an odd sense of… almost an _affinity_ for the medical examiner.

"Well… the marks on the body suggest that our victim was not killed here. They appear to be drag marks, but there are no corresponding marks on the ground near the body."

Jane reflexively looked at the ground near her feet, seeing no drag marks, as the medical examiner had noted.

"_That's_ helpful. Thank you," the detective said, surprised to find that she wasn't actually being sarcastic.

"Oh…" The medical examiner was equally as surprised. "You're welcome."

"Hey, Jane!" Korsak called to her from across the parking lot where they had found the body.

The detective turned around and waited as he approached.

"One of the old warehouses behind this one," he said, indicating to the one nearest where they were standing, "has a loading dock open. Shouldn't be, since no one's used that warehouse in years. We're putting together a team to go check it-"

"I'm in!" Jane said, cutting him off.

Korsak shook his head.

"No way, Jane. Not with your arm like that. I was just coming over to let you know so that you can help keep the crime scene secure while we're gone."

Her face fell.

"_Really?_ That's all I'm good for? _Guard duty_?"

"Sorry, Jane," Korsak chuckled. "It's only for a few weeks. You'll be good as new and back to doing the fun stuff in no time."

Jane rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Easy for _you_ to say while you're off doing the fun stuff _now_."

Out of the corner of her eye, Jane noticed that the medical examiner had a smile on her face and an excited glint in her eye.

"What the hell are _you_ so happy about?" she grumped.

"I can help you keep a lookout! It's kind of exciting, isn't it?" Maura replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Wheeeee," the detective deadpanned.

Korsak laughed as he walked away, shaking his head.

"You two have fun!" he called over his shoulder.

Jane watched as the sergeant disappeared around the corner of the building, then grabbed Maura's arm and started pulling her over towards the other side of the parking lot.

"Ow! Hey- where are we going?" the medical examiner asked as she tried to keep up.

"We," the detective began, stopping to make sure that no one was watching, "are just going to go keep watch from over _here_."

Maura looked around, a slightly fearful expression coming over her face.

"Jane, I don't think we're supposed to be over here. We are _far_ too close to that warehouse, and I don't think you should-"

"Shhhh!"

Jane reached up and covered Maura's mouth with her hand as she peeked around the corner and saw a small group of officers making their way in through the open loading dock of the abandoned warehouse, about twenty yards away. When she pulled her hand back down, Maura was glaring at her.

"I cannot believe you just _shushed_ me."

"Well, if you'd quiet down a little, I wouldn't _need_ to," Jane whispered, breaking into a smile in spite of herself.

"This isn't funny, Jane. We're _supposed_ to be keeping an eye on-"

"We _are_. We can still see the crime scene from here. I just wanted to have my eye on both the crime scene _and_ the warehouse."

Maura still did not look happy, so Jane reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning down a little bit so she was at eye level with the slighter shorter woman.

"Maura. You're perfectly safe with me, okay? We're not going to get into trouble, because we're not doing anything wrong."

"I don't think this is what Sergeant Korsak _meant_ when he told you to watch the crime scene, Jane."

Jane grinned.

"Probably not."

The detective looked around and pointed to a small, run-down storage shed a little bit closer to the warehouse.

"Let's move over there. Then we'll be able to see our crime scene better, and _you_ can relax."

Maura sighed.

"I don't know, Jane. That's getting pretty close…"

Jane grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her over towards the shed. They had almost made it to their destination when they heard shots being fired in the warehouse and saw someone sprinting out of the open loading dock.

"_Shit!_" Jane hissed, shoving Maura quickly behind the shed.

The medical examiner's eyes were wide.

"Do you think he saw us?" she whispered, so quietly that Jane could barely hear.

"I don't think so," the detective whispered back. "He wasn't coming this way. I'm going to go see if-"

"_No_."

Maura's voice, even though it was a whisper, was firm.

Jane rolled her eyes.

"Well, what if he _did_ see us, Maura? You want me to let him sneak up on us?"

"There are other officers, Jane. Others who currently have full use of _both_ of their arms. You need to _stay here_."

Jane was about to protest when she heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the shed. She looked at Maura and held a finger to her lips, telling her to be quiet, and decided to go peek around the corner to see where the suspect had gone. As the detective went to take a step away, the medical examiner reached out and put her hand on Jane's waist, gently pulling her back. Jane turned around to look questioningly at her, and Maura simply shook her head. _No_, she mouthed.

The detective hesitated, but the look of fear on Maura's face was too much. She couldn't leave her alone. What if something happened? As she heard the footsteps slowly walking around the back of the shed to their right, Jane placed herself between Maura and the sound and hurriedly pushed the medical examiner to the opposite side of the shed. As she slipped around the corner, she saw the suspect limping away out of her peripheral vision. She quickly used her good hand to cover Maura's mouth and pressed her body up against the medical examiner's, shielding her from view in case the suspect had caught a glimpse of them.

She was debating whether or not to make a move after him when she saw Frost sprint out from behind another warehouse, gun drawn, and the suspect finally throwing his hands up and getting down on the ground. Jane let her hand drop from Maura's mouth as the breath that she had been holding expelled itself from her lungs. She chuckled quietly, shaking her head, and then realized how quickly her heart was beating and how close she was to the medical examiner. So close that she could feel Maura's breath hit the side of her neck, as she too let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"What would you have done if he had seen us?" Maura whispered, her eyes locked on Jane's, still reflecting the fear and worry that she had felt moments ago.

The detective smiled wearily at her, shrugging her shoulders.

"Human shield?" she half joked. "Maybe beat him with my cast?"

She paused, noting the concern still evident on her friend's face.

"Hey," she said, reaching out to grab Maura's hand and give it a squeeze. "I wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

She saw the medical examiner's cheeks begin to redden, and she instantly became fully aware of the fact that their bodies were still pressed up against one another. She pulled away and ran a hand back through her unruly curls, clearing her throat casually.

"Yeah, uh… You okay, Maura?" she asked loudly, stepping backwards towards where Frost was handcuffing their suspect and Korsak was jogging over to meet them.

Korsak gave her a look of disapproval.

"You two were definitely _not_ supposed to be over here," he said. "_Especially _you, Dr. Isles."

Maura stepped out from behind the shed and opened her mouth to speak, but Jane held up a hand to stop her.

"It's on me, Korsak. I wanted to get a better look. Not her fault," the detective admitted.

Korsak shook his head.

"Not your brightest idea, Rizzoli. You could've been shot. _Either_ of you."

Jane looked back at Maura and nodded sadly.

"You're right. It won't happen again. It was stupid."

She paused to give the medical examiner a smile.

"But I wouldn't have let anything happen to Dr. Isles. I'll keep her safe."

"Well, see that you're keeping _yourself _safe, too, Jane," Korsak said pointedly, patting her on the shoulder.

"I will."

For some reason, Jane couldn't tear her eyes away from Maura's. She knew the medical examiner wasn't pleased with her, but there was another emotion evident in the way she was looking at her. The detective wasn't sure whether it was wishful thinking, or if Maura was actually studying her with a sense of… _admiration_? _Fondness_? It had to be something at least moderately positive to result in the strangely warm smile that the ME was sending her way.

Maura took a few steps towards her and waited until Korsak and Frost were busy in conversation before she whispered,

"You're very brave, Jane. Maybe not exactly the most… _sensible_… but certainly brave."

The detective couldn't help the warm feeling that set up camp in her chest at hearing compliments from the ME. She was pretty sure she could feel it spreading to her cheeks as well.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just call me an idiot and that you just said the '_brave_' part," she replied with a grin.

Maura laughed.

"Okay. Whatever you say, detective."


	7. Chapter 7

_It was a gorgeous day. So nice out, in fact, that Maura decided to forgo her normal retreat to the library. Instead, she carried her health textbook outside to the playground and took a seat on one of the empty swings, far away from where the rest of her classmates were involved in their various group activities._

"_Just as society is organized into different groups that work together, so is the human body," she read quietly to herself. "The respiratory system is responsible for acquiring and-"_

_Her concentration was interrupted by a loud burst of laughter from a group of girls on the other side of the playground. She watched them for a few moments, sniffling as she tried to fight off the inevitable feeling of loneliness that was creeping into her chest. She shook her head, looking back down at her book and trying to fight back the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes._

"_The… the respiratory system is responsible for… for acquiring and distr-"_

"_You _cryin'_, loser?" a male voice jeered at her as a small group of boys approached the swing set._

_The little girl refused to look up at them, shaking her head as she kept her eyes on the pages of her textbook. She couldn't focus on the words anymore, but she didn't want to look up at them. Didn't want to see the sneers on their faces, the contempt in their eyes._

"_What, now you don't know how to _talk_? Thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius," another boy chimed in, eliciting mocking laughter from his friends._

"_I know how to talk," Maura whispered, still refusing to look at them._

"_Too bad no one cares what you have to say," he replied, taking a few steps closer and standing directly in front of her with his arms crossed._

"_Whatcha readin'?" he asked, bending down and tilting his head to get a better look._

"_Probably somethin' boring, I bet. For Maura the Bora."_

_He laughed, looking back to his friends for encouragement, which they happily provided through laughter of their own._

"_It's a health textbook," the little girl replied quietly, desperately hoping that the boys would get bored and find something else to do. She hated how close he was standing to her. She hated having their eyes on her. She hated being the object of their ridicule._

_She wished she had just gone to the library instead of the playground._

_Before she had time to register the motion out of the corner of her eye, the boy's hand had come down on top of her textbook and sent it plummeting down into the mulch at her feet. His friends laughed as he planted a foot on top of it and scuffed the bottom of his shoe against the pages, tearing a few of them nearly the whole way from the binding._

"_Oops," he mocked, laughing even louder at the horrified expression on Maura's face._

"_Have fun explaining that to Mrs. Shore!" he called as he and his friends walked away._

_When she finally raised her eyes, she noticed that all playground eyes were on her. Some kids were laughing and pointing towards her. Some seemed genuinely sorry for her. But no one came to her aid. No one spoke up in her defense. She was alone, as usual._

_Maura wiped at her eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were fighting their way out. She knelt down on the ground and gingerly picked up the fallen book, brushing off the mulch and trying to lay the pages back into place._

"_Maura?" someone called across the yard to her._

_She looked up to see Mrs. Shore walking towards her._

"_What happened, dear?" she asked, bending down to take the book from the little girl's hands when she saw the fearful expression on her face._

"_I… I didn't _mean_ to… to rip it. Do… do I have to give… give it back?" Maura stammered, desperately trying to prevent herself from sobbing in front of her teacher._

_Mrs. Shore's face softened._

"_You didn't do this, did you?" she asked._

_Maura shook her head, her eyes wide._

"_Who did?"_

_The little girl looked over towards the playground, then lowered her eyes, shaking her head._

"_Maura. If you don't tell me, I can't help you."_

_She shook her head again._

"_It's okay, Mrs. Shore. I can… I can handle it," she whispered._

_The teacher smiled gently and reached over to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder._

"_Let's just go get your book fixed up. Would that be alright?"_

"_You mean… you mean I can still take it with me?"_

_Mrs. Shore nodded, then began walking back towards the school with Maura._

_After a few minutes and a few pieces of tape, the book was repaired and Maura's tears had dissipated. Just as she was carefully placing it into her backpack, her mother appeared in the doorway to her classroom._

"_I was told you wanted to see me before we left?" Constance Isles said to Mrs. Shore, glancing over at her daughter._

_The teacher stood up and walked over to the doorway, whispering to Mrs. Isles. Constance glanced sadly over towards the little girl, who stood at the back of the room watching them, unable to hear what they were saying. Their conversation was brief, and then Mrs. Isles called Maura over so they could leave._

_Once they were in the car, Constance sighed and turned to face her daughter with a sad smile._

"_I'm sorry this happened to you, darling," she said quietly._

"_It's okay, mother," Maura whispered back._

"_Maura… I know this is difficult for you. But you must learn to handle these things on your own. You won't always have someone like Mrs. Shore to help you. Do you understand?"_

_Constance felt terrible as she watched her daughter's face fall to an even sadder expression than it had already displayed. She wondered if, perhaps, she was being too hard on her. But she wanted Maura to be able to care for herself. She wanted Maura to be able to rely on herself, because, in Constance's experience, no one else was consistently reliable. She wanted her daughter to be strong._

"_I understand, mother," Maura whispered. "I shouldn't burden others with my problems."_

_Hearing her repeat that phrase, a phrase that she had taught her, broke her heart. But the sooner she learned it, the better. Constance smiled sadly and turned back to start the car and begin the drive home, holding back tears of her own._

* * *

"_Hey, Maura! Glad you're back. I was sooooo bored," J exclaimed, hopping up excitedly from Maura's bed as the little blonde walked into her bedroom and sat down at her desk._

_J's smile quickly faded when she noticed Maura's lack of enthusiasm._

"_What? Not happy to see me?" she joked, grinning as she stepped closer to her friend._

_Maura shook her head, pulling out her homework and a pencil._

"_I can go, if you want," J said quietly, interpreting Maura's head shake as an indication that she really _wasn't_ happy to see her._

_Maura turned quickly around in her chair, shaking her head adamantly with her eyes wide and pleading as fresh tears began to well up in them._

"_Please don't," she managed, before sniffling as the first tear rolled down her cheek._

_J placed a hand on her shoulder and knelt down to speak with her at eye level, her own faced etched with concern._

"_What's wrong, Maura? What happened?"_

_The little blonde shook her head again._

"_You don't want to talk about it?"_

"_No."_

"_Well… well, I'll just sit here, then. Can I just sit with you for a while?"_

_Maura nodded, and J hopped up onto her desk to watch her friend work on her assignments. Every few minutes, the little blonde would look up at her and smile, then look back down and continue working. J was bored, but that smile was worth it._

_When Maura had finally finished, she put her stuff away and climbed up onto her bed, patting the spot next to her so J would join._

"_Want to play or something?" Maura asked quietly._

_J shook her head, reaching one hand over and taking Maura's, lacing their fingers together._

"_I don't want to play when you're sad. I want you to be happy."_

_The blonde squeezed her hand and smiled up at her, leaning her head over onto her shoulder._

"_I'm happy when you're with me, J," she said. "I'm happy you're my friend."_

"_Me too," J said back._

_They sat in silence for a few minutes, but eventually J spoke again._

"_Are you going to tell me what happened, Maura?"_

_The blonde shook her head._

"_Why not? You can tell me anything."_

_Maura sighed and looked up at her, shaking her head again._

"_I shouldn't burden others with my problems, J," she said quietly._

_Now it was J's turn to shake her head, forehead creasing as she tried to tell her friend how _wrong_ she was._

"_Maura, it's not a burden. Not for me. And… and even if it _was_ a burden… you can _always_ burden me."_

_Maura smiled gratefully over at her friend._

"_Thank you, J."_

_J looked at her expectantly._

"_So? Where's the burden?" she joked, playfully nudging Maura with her shoulder as she grinned._

_She was relieved when the little blonde actually chuckled in response. Maura was surprised at how quickly J could make her feel better, and even though she didn't want to burden her… she _knew_ that J had been serious when she said that she could. And right now, she needed to._

"_Everyone at school hates me, J," she whispered._

"_Well, everyone at school is stupid, then."_

_Maura smiled._

"_You laugh, but I'm serious," J continued. "There's nothing about you to hate."_

_The blonde squeezed her hand again in appreciation._

"_They hate me because I'm boring, and I'm a loser and a nerd."_

"_I don't think you're any of those things, Maura."_

"_You're the _only_ one."_

_J shook her head, turning herself so she could face her a little more directly._

"_No, I'm not. I mean… sometimes you talk about things I don't understand. Like, really smart stuff. But I don't think it's _boring_. The only reason anybody would think _you're_ boring is if _they_ are too boring to figure out how to have fun with you. _They _are the boring ones. I mean, _we_ have fun, don't we?"_

_Maura nodded skeptically._

"_And it's not boring?"_

_Maura shook her head._

"_So, that means that _you're_ not boring. Because if you _were_, then how could we have fun together?"_

_The little blonde smiled happily. It seemed to be a logical conclusion._

"_Okay, _and_ you're not a loser or a nerd, because you're friends with _me_, and _I'm _super cool."_

_Maura laughed._

"_Yeah, sure," she teased._

_J smiled broadly, thrilled that she had cheered Maura up._

"_See, Maura? They're stupid. You're awesome, and they should be totally jealous of me because I get to be friends with you. And you know what? This just means I get you all to myself."_

_Maura beamed up at her friend, then leaned over to deliver a quick kiss to her cheek._

"_You're the best friend ever, J," she whispered._

_J smiled._

"_Nah. But I might be a close second," she replied._

_The blonde gave her hand one final squeeze, then hopped down off of the bed and grabbed her health book out of her bag._

"_Want to play genius doctor again?" she asked gleefully, climbing back up onto the bed and opening the book._

_J immediately noticed the fresh tape and frowned over at her._

"_Is _this_ what happened today?" she asked._

_Maura nodded._

"_Yes. But Mrs. Shore helped me fix-"_

"_Who did it?" J asked quietly._

"_You don't know them, J. You don't go to my school."_

"_Did they hurt you, Maura?"_

_The blonde shook her head, reaching over to place her hand gently on J's arm._

"_I'm _fine_, J."_

_J calmed down a little with Maura's hand touching her, but after a few seconds she spoke seriously to her friend._

"_Were you scared?" she whispered._

_Maura didn't reply for a moment, then nodded her head almost imperceptibly._

"_I'm coming with you next time," J replied immediately._

"_What?" the blonde asked, caught off guard by J's suggestion._

"_To school. I'm coming with you. So you won't be scared anymore, and so I can protect you from… whoever did this to your book."_

_Maura smiled, comforted by her friend's display of protective affection._

"_You don't have to do that, J. It's school. You'd be so bored."_

"_No, I won't. You'll be there."_

_The two sat in silence for a few seconds. Maura really _did_ want J to go with her. It really _would_ make her feel safer, and she really liked the idea of J being her protector. But she also didn't want to-_

"_You don't want to 'burden me with your problems.' Yeah, I know, I get it. But you're _not_. And I want to do this. I can help you. Please?"_

_The blonde looked down at her lap for a few more seconds, then back over at her friend with a smile. She nodded._

"_Okay. You can come with me, but _only_ if you really want to."_

_J grinned, then grabbed the book from Maura's lap and began flipping through the pages._

"_Good! Now… where's the section on the best tickle spots in the human body…"_

_Maura laughed, snatching the book back as she gazed affectionately at J._

"_Somehow I don't think you need a _book_ for that, J," she teased._

_The brunette playfully poked her in the side as she smirked and raised an eyebrow._

"_You're right. I don't."_


	8. Chapter 8

**I hope you're all enjoying the story! Reviews are always appreciated- I feel like this fic is still kind of in its infancy to some extent, and any feedback you have would be very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to check out the story! =)**

* * *

"Good morning," Maura said with a polite smile to a group of young officers who were not-so-subtly staring at her as she walked past them towards the café.

"Uh… G'morning."

Before she'd managed even one full step away from them, she heard the distinct, whispered sound of her name. Her ears, trained from a lifetime of catching the hurtful utterances that she wasn't supposed to hear, immediately attended to the murmur of conversation.

"… Dr. Isles? Yeah, sure, she's _hot_, but dude… they call her 'Queen of the Dead' for a reason."

Her footsteps slowed involuntarily, and although she tried to avert her attention, tried not to hear whatever it was that they were going to say, their whispers still reached her ears.

"Is it 'cause she bores you to death with useless information?" one of them whispered as the others laughed quietly.

"Well, hey, though… I wasn't plannin' on having a _debate_ with her," came the counter reply. "I had… _other_ stuff in mind."

He laughed, and she heard another voice chime in.

"It's not even worth it, man. Look, but _don't touch_, ya know? I was at a scene with her once and she talked for _five minutes _about..."

The medical examiner forced her feet to carry her the rest of the way to the café, to carry her away from the words that felt, subjectively, as if they were ripping holes in her chest. She was beginning to feel nauseous and wasn't sure that a cup of coffee would sit well, but to change course for the elevators now would be suspicious. She swallowed the lump in her throat, blinking back the tears as she placed her order. While waiting for the drink, she felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned around to see the smiling face of Detective Rizzoli.

"Hey. I don't usually see _you_ in here in the morning," Jane observed.

"I was… running a bit behind this morning. I didn't have time to brew my own cup," Maura replied stoically.

Something in the way she spoke tipped the detective off that all was not right, and the smile quickly faded from Jane's face as she placed a hand, the one that _wasn't_ in a cast, on the blonde's shoulder in concern.

"You okay?" she asked quietly.

Maura glanced down at the floor, her eyes reflexively flicking briefly towards the group of young officers that had been speaking about her, then back up to the brunette's as she decided on a proper response.

"I haven't had my coffee yet," she replied, forcing herself to smile.

Jane gave her shoulder a pat and smiled back.

"I'm the same way," she chuckled, placing her order and then stepping back to wait with her friend.

The detective snapped her fingers as she appeared to remember something, turning towards the medical examiner with an excited glint in her eye.

"Oh, hey! I wanted to ask you. My Ma was telling me last night that there's supposed to be some famous medical examiner guy coming in for a presentation at BCU next week. Don't know how she _knows_ this stuff-"

Maura tilted her head, searching her memory for an elusive bit of information.

"Dr. Robert Grishko?" she asked after a few seconds. "I believe he has ties to some of the BCU faculty."

Jane nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds right, I think. Grishko."

"He does excellent work. I've never seen it in person, but I've heard very positive things about his techniques."

The detective smiled, reaching back to absently adjust the neck strap of the sling that her injured arm was dangling from as she next spoke.

"Well, hey. We could go, if you want. I mean… I just thought it seemed like the kind of boring thing you'd be up for," she joked, her smile faltering at the unmistakable expression of hurt that flashed briefly across her friend's face.

Maura glanced over to see her coffee being placed on the counter in front of her, and she quickly picked it up and spoke to the detective without raising her eyes to meet her gaze.

"I'll… I'll get back to you, Jane," she said, her voice breaking mid-sentence as she tried to fake a smile before turning to head out of the café.

"Wait… Maura?" the detective called after her in confusion.

But the medical examiner didn't stop to respond.

She was intently headed towards the elevator, desperately hoping that she would make it to the safety of her office before the tears came.

* * *

She'd thought things would be different here. Up until that morning, Maura hadn't heard any of the snide remarks that she had become accustomed to at other departments. She had fooled herself into thinking that, maybe, she would actually fit in here. Fooled herself into thinking that she'd made a real friend.

But it was all the same. They viewed her only as the boring, bizarre woman who sliced open the dead.

"At least I know _you _don't find me boring," she whispered to the body on her table. "But if you were alive… I guess you probably would, too."

The medical examiner stepped back from the table as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"_Dammit_," she whispered, sniffing as she removed her gloves and wiped at her eyes.

"Didn't know you had such a foul mouth," Jane joked hesitantly from the doorway, causing the medical examiner to jump.

Maura forced herself to smile as she waved the detective in, turning her back to the brunette in a failed attempt to hide the fact that she was crying. As Jane approached, her face softened and she reached out her hand to place it gently on the medical examiner's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Maura. I didn't know you'd get so upset… I was just joking," she said quietly.

The blonde shook her head as she turned back around to face her friend.

"I'm fine, Jane," she lied.

"You sure don't seem fine to me," the detective replied. "You wanna tell me what happ-"

Suddenly the brunette's eyes seemed drawn to the medical examiner's neck, and Maura looked down to see her skin turning a bright and blotchy shade of red. She quickly raised her hand to cover the area, embarrassed.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I just…"

Jane peered at her with concern.

"Are you breaking out in hives? Do you have an allergy or some-"

The medical examiner reached out to gently place her hand on Jane's arm, shaking her head.

"I don't have an allergy, Jane. I tend to... have a very... _noticeable _physiological reaction to... uncomfortable social situations. Such as... for instance... distributing misinformation."

The detective processed this for a moment before she translated Maura's roundabout way of speaking.

"You're telling me you break out in hives when you _lie_?" she asked, incredulous.

"Well…"

The medical examiner appeared to be trying to think of how best to answer the question, and Jane simply raised an eyebrow at her, a tentative smirk on her face.

"You'd better not lie unless you want to make it worse," she joked.

Maura shot her a playful glare, rolling her eyes a bit as she smiled.

"Ah, see? That's what I was going for," Jane responded with a smile of her own.

After a few seconds, she let her smile fade so she could speak seriously with the ME.

"So, if you lied about being fine… that means you're _not_ fine."

The blonde didn't say anything, avoiding the detective's gaze.

"Do you… wanna talk about it?" Jane continued quietly, leaning herself down a bit so she was at eye level with Maura.

The medical examiner sniffed and headed back towards the autopsy table, shaking her head.

"I don't like to burden others with my problems, Jane," she stated, reaching for the box of latex gloves to pull on another pair. "I'll be fine."

When the detective didn't say anything in response, Maura glanced over in her direction. The brunette was staring silently across the room at her, a heartbroken expression on her face.

"Is that what you think, Maura?" she asked quietly when she caught the blonde's eye. "You think you'd be _burdening_ me?"

The medical examiner didn't know how to respond, but she felt her shoulders shrugging almost imperceptibly at the question. Jane shook her head, taking a few steps closer to her.

"You're my _friend_, Maura. Friends _talk_ to each other about stuff that's bothering them, you know? It's not a _burden_."

She paused for a moment before continuing a bit more quietly.

"Even if it _is_… I don't mind if you burden me."

An appreciative smile appeared on Maura's face as she looked up into the genuinely concerned eyes of the detective.

It was a strangely familiar, yet long-forgotten, feeling that rushed into her chest. Someone _cared_ for her. Not just for her work, or for her appearance, but for _her_.

"Thank you, Jane," she said with a nod, feeling a different breed of tears beginning to form in her eyes.

The detective smiled gently and reached out to place her hand on Maura's shoulder, pausing for a moment as if to consider something. After only a moment's hesitation, the brunette pulled Maura towards her and wrapped her in a one-armed hug, carefully trying to avoid hitting the blonde in the face with her cast. The medical examiner thought that she felt lips brushing against the top of her head, but that may have just been somewhat wishful thinking.

"Are you going to tell me?" Jane whispered after a bit, slowly pulling herself back from the hug, and lightly taking Maura's hand.

Maura sighed, looking down and away, then back up at the encouraging smile of her friend.

"I just… I heard some things that people are saying about me. It's nothing to be concerned about. I'm just being too sensitive."

Jane's brow creased as the smile faded from her face.

"And what exactly are people saying about you?" she asked.

Maura shrugged.

"It's nothing I haven't heard before, Jane. Honestly."

"Maura…"

The medical examiner sighed again, knowing that she wouldn't be able to avoid the question forever.

"They're calling me 'Queen of the Dead.' And… just discussing the general disinterest in engaging me in conversation. I believe the phrase 'Look, but don't touch' was used. It's not the first time someone has said that I'm... _odd_, Jane. Or boring."

With each new bit of information, Jane's face had become more and more furious. But when the medical examiner said the last part, about being boring, the detective's face fell. She realized, then, why Maura had been so upset in the coffee shop.

"Maura, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's really okay, Jane. I know that most people aren't interested in the information that I've surrounded myself with."

Jane shook her head.

"No, _listen_. I really didn't mean that I actually think you're boring, okay? I don't think that at all. I don't understand what you're actually _saying_ half the time," she smiled, "but I don't think you're _boring_. Honestly, I… and I'll deny this if you ever bring it up again… but I'm actually really impressed with all the stuff you know. I think it's really incredible, how good you are at what you do and how you also manage to cram all that random information up in that brain of yours."

Maura chuckled, and Jane's smile grew.

"I'm not friends with any boring people, Maura. And you're my friend. So… that must mean you're not boring."

Maura gave the detective's hand a squeeze as she whispered her thanks.

"And as for anyone who's saying that stuff about you… well, they better hope I _never_ catch 'em."

The medical examiner smiled broadly, laughing at the jokingly implied threat.

"I wouldn't laugh, Maura. I might need your help hiding a few bodies," Jane replied seriously.

The blonde stared at her skeptically for a moment before the detective's face broke into a smirk, and then they both laughed.

"All jokes aside," Jane began more seriously, "you've… you know, you've got _me_. For whatever that's worth. You're not a burden. And you can always come to me, okay? That's what I'm here for."

Maura smiled and gave her an appreciative nod.

"You're a good friend, Jane. Thank you."

The detective smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, interrupted by Maura adding,

"And you can come to me, too! Because… that's what I am also here for. Because we're friends."

The medical examiner smiled proudly up at the taller woman, warmth flooding her chest at the affectionate smile that she received in return.

"Yeah, Maura. We are."

And those four words kept a smile on her face for the rest of the day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Finally getting around to updating this one! I'll try to be a bit quicker with the next chapter. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think! Reviews and feedback are always appreciated. Enjoy! =)**

* * *

"_I really don't understand why you're not excited, Jane!" M said with a shake of her head, her gleeful smile unaffected by the glare that the brunette sent her way._

"_I _told_ you, M. I just don't want to go to the stupid Children's Museum."_

_Jane crossed her arms and looked away, scowling at all of the other children in their seats on the bus. They were all talking and laughing with their friends, eager to arrive at their destination and go explore._

"_But didn't you say that you had fun last time you went?"_

_Jane glared at her again._

"_Yeah. So?"_

_M laughed, poking the brunette in the side as she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance._

"So_, why wouldn't it be fun this time, too? And besides, I thought you would at _least _be excited to get away from school for the day!"_

_Jane held up her arm, still in its cast, with an exasperated look on her face. She continued glaring at M until the blonde's smile slowly began to fade into a frown._

"_You don't have to be so grumpy," M huffed, crossing her own arms and turning to look out the window._

_The little brunette watched her friend for a few seconds, waiting for her to turn back around. But she didn't. M continued staring out the window, refusing to look over at her. As it became apparent that the blonde wasn't going to initiate conversation with her again, Jane rolled her eyes and gently nudged M to get her attention._

"_I'm sorry," she mumbled._

_M turned to look at her, still frowning._

"_You know, I'm just trying to help. I'm not the one who broke your arm, Jane."_

_Jane sighed as her shoulders slumped forward, staring down at her feet as she spoke quietly to her friend._

"_I _know_. It just sucks. This is a museum for _kids_. All the stuff here… you're supposed to _do _stuff with it. Play with it and just, like… have _fun_. And everyone else is gonna get to, but I still can't do anything because of my stupid arm."_

_She glared at her cast now, as if anger could make it disappear._

"_It's so awful having this thing on here, M. My life is so _boring _now."_

_M tried to stifle a chuckle, but the brunette saw the smirk on her face and heard the quiet sound of her laughter. She turned her glare back towards the blonde again._

"_Why's that funny?" she demanded._

_M shook her head, reaching a hand over to rest it on Jane's uninjured arm as she tried to force the smile from her face._

"_It's not really funny, Jane. It's just… this is a _really _big museum. There are plenty of exhibits that aren't interactive, and you'll get to learn a lot of really interesting things! The whole world isn't suddenly _boring _just because your arm is broken."_

"_No offense, M," Jane sighed, "but being excited about learning is kind of _your_ thing."_

"_Well, then… we'll just have to make it your thing, too!" the blonde exclaimed with a broad grin. "I'll be your tour guide, and I'll help you find all of the best exhibits so you'll learn tons of cool stuff!"_

_Jane was significantly less enthusiastic._

"_I don't think so, M. Not sure you and I exactly agree on what's considered 'cool'."_

_M shrugged._

"_Fine. But you'll just be wandering around watching everyone else have fun. And…," she paused to chuckle at her friend, "if you keep that miserable look on your face, everyone's going to tease you."_

_The little brunette scoffed at the suggestion._

"_No, they won't. Not unless they want my foot up their a-"_

"Jane!"

_Jane smirked over at the appalled expression on her friend's face until the blonde eventually caved and started laughing along with her. After a moment, M looked hopefully over towards the brunette as she grabbed her hand and quietly asked,_

"_Does this mean you're happy enough now to let me be your tour guide?"_

_The brunette tried to hold her ground, tried to glare at her friend, but M's enthusiasm was too contagious. A tiny smile formed at the corners of her mouth as she rolled her eyes._

"_Alright, _fine_," she assented, groaning as M threw her arms around Jane's neck for a quick hug before pulling back with an excited grin._

"_It's going to be so much fun!"_

_Jane shook her head, the smile on her face growing despite her best efforts to appear angry._

"I'll_ be the judge of that," she muttered. "And you better not just take me to see all the stuff _you _want to look at, or I'll go follow someone else around, instead."_

_M simply laughed._

"_No you won't, Jane. You like me far too much for that," she said with a proud smile._

_Jane grinned and playfully nudged M with her shoulder._

"_You're probably right," she laughed quietly._

_After a moment she shook her head as she changed her mind._

"_You're _definitely _right," she corrected._

* * *

"Really,_ M? You brought me over here to look at a bunch of old _dolls_?" Jane huffed as her friend pulled her by the hand over towards a glass display case._

_M ignored the question and pointed at the glass._

"_Look at that one, Jane," she instructed, trying to direct the brunette's attention to a doll in the back of the display. "The one with the dark hair."_

"_Which one? Half of these dolls have dark-"_

_The blond rolled her eyes with a chuckle._

"_In the back, Jane. The one wearing shorts."_

"_Those are _shorts?_ Looks more like some kinda weird skirt thing. And, anyway… why exactly am I supposed to be looking at it?"_

_This seemed to be the response that M was hoping for, and she beamed proudly as she pointed to the informative plaque next to the display._

"_She's a basketball player, Jane!" the blonde said excitedly._

_Jane raised a skeptical eyebrow as she crossed her arms and turned towards her friend._

"_These dolls are from the 1920s," M began, glancing briefly at the plaque to verify her information. "This is what a girl would wear to play basketball back then. And the one in front with the braided, red hair? She's wearing a baseball uniform from the same time."_

"_You mean softball?" the brunette corrected._

_M shook her head._

"_No, I meant baseball. Girls played baseball back then, until lacrosse became more popular."_

_Jane still didn't look convinced, turning back towards the display and making a face as she shook her head._

"_They had to play in _that_?" she asked, incredulous. "That skirt thing would get in the way."_

"_They're _shorts_, Jane," M corrected. "And yes. That is what they played in."_

"_But, it's so… _poofy_."_

_The blonde couldn't help laughing, and as Jane turned to look at her with a pleased smile, the brunette began to laugh along with her._

"_I guess it _is_ kind of… _poofy_," M laughed. "But it's… it's cool, right?"_

_Jane shrugged._

"_It's alright, I guess. For a doll," she reluctantly agreed._

_M opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a burst of laughter from across the room. Jane turned around to see a group of boys from her class goofing off at a craft work station, and she frowned as she watched them, jealous of the fun they were having._

"_There's something else I wanted to show you, Jane," M said quietly, taking her by the hand again and turning to walk away._

_The brunette sighed and followed after her, staring angrily at her feet as she walked._

"_Is it more dolls?" she asked sarcastically._

"_No. You'll definitely like this better than the dolls. But… I really thought you would find those dolls interesting, since you like sports so much."_

"_I like to _play _sports, M. Not have a tea party with dolls dressed in weird puff-pants."_

_The blonde continued walking without saying a word, so Jane kept talking._

"Please_ tell me you're not taking me to look at old frilly dresses or something next. I'd rather go back and watch everyone else having fun than-"_

_M stopped abruptly and turned to look back at her friend, dropping her hand and crossing her arms as she stared her down in frustration._

"_Do you really have to be so mean? You could be having fun, too, if you'd stop being so grumpy!" the blonde declared, before turning on her heel and storming away, leaving Jane alone in the middle of an exhibit displaying diagrams of bee communication and the pollination process._

"_M?" Jane called after her as she watched her friend disappear around a corner._

_She stood in shock for a moment, unable to believe that M had actually left her. Jane turned to look at some of the children poking around in the exhibit, wondering if they had noticed that she was alone, but they were too absorbed in looking at an encased honeycomb to pay her any attention._

"_M?" she tried again, quieter this time, as she took a few steps out of the exhibit, following in the direction that her friend had gone._

_She rounded the corner slowly, but saw no sign of the little blonde. Her frustration quickly turned to distress as she picked up her pace and began walking quickly through the next exhibit, not stopping to register the displays or the other children, but only looking for one face that wasn't there. Jane's lower lip was beginning to tremble as she rounded the corner at the end of the next exhibit, and her heart nearly leapt from her chest when she saw a familiar set of honey blonde waves on the other side of the room._

"_M!" she exclaimed, running over and wrapping her friend in a tight embrace._

"_I thought you were gone! I thought I'd made you too mad," the brunette whispered as she pulled herself away._

_M frowned at her, crossing her arms as she looked up at Jane._

"_You _did _make me mad," M admitted. "You can be really mean when you're in a bad mood, Jane."_

"_I know. I'm sorry. I just… It just really sucks that everyone else gets to do fun stuff, and I-"_

"_You're stuck here with _me_?"_

_Jane's eyes widened at the hurt look on her friend's face. She shook her head adamantly and grabbed M's hands._

"_No, that's not what I meant! I just wish we could _both_ do the other stuff. The _fun_ stuff. Most of these exhibits are just kinda…"_

_For the first time, Jane paused to look around at the exhibit that they were currently standing in. Her eyes traveled up along the wall as a smile began to form on her face. When M noticed it, she smiled, too._

"_Do you like this one?" she asked quietly._

_Jane nodded._

"_I thought you would," M said with a smile._

_The brunette stared in awe at the collection of old uniforms and equipment from policemen, firemen and EMTs of past decades. And she felt terrible for assuming that her friend was going to drag her around to a bunch of things that she wouldn't be interested in. M really _was_ trying to find things that she would enjoy. Jane squeezed her hand as she looked over at her friend and smiled, her brows lowering in mild confusion._

"_How did you know I'd be into this one? I don't remember telling you I want to be a cop," she asked quietly._

_M smiled and shrugged her shoulders._

"_You didn't really need to tell me, Jane. I already knew. Like that time when we were going to get in trouble at school, and you protected me."_

"_That wasn't because I want to be a cop, M. That's just 'cause you're my best friend," Jane said quietly._

_She smiled at the blonde and then took a few steps forward, peeking into a display case holding a number of smaller items that accompanied the police uniform hanging on the wall._

"_Just so you know, Jane," M began, "I was going to come back for you. I wasn't going to just leave you by yourself. I just… I wanted you to know you were being…"_

"_A jerk?" Jane offered with a grin._

_M smiled and nodded her head._

"_Yes. A _jerk_. You really shouldn't take your anger out on other people, Jane. It's not nice. I was only trying to help you."_

"_I know," Jane said with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, M. I really am."_

_She sighed, then continued,_

"_It's hard sometimes. I don't even know I'm doing it. Just comes out and then… I didn't mean to make you mad at me."_

_The blonde didn't say anything in response. She simply squeezed Jane's hand and gave her a warm smile._

"_And, M?"_

"_Yeah?"_

_"I, um…"_

_Jane paused for a moment, looking at her feet as she tried to determine how to word what she wanted to say._

"_I kinda… I really did think it was kinda cool. Those dolls. And I really like it when you tell me stuff. 'Cause… you're just really smart and you know what I like and I'm sorry I said you were going to make me go to a tea party and look at frilly dresses because I know you weren't going to make me because I should have known you would bring me to something cool like this because you're my best friend and-"_

_M placed her hand over Jane's mouth with a giggle, pulling it away once she felt the brunette's mouth stop moving._

"_You talk fast when you're nervous," she observed with a grin._

"_Yeah, well… I'm just sorry, okay?"_

_M was quiet for a moment before saying quietly,_

"_You know _you're_ smart, too, Jane."_

_The brunette shrugged, and M continued,_

"_You _are_. You just don't like science quite as much as I do, that's all."_

"_Well, it's not that I don't _like _science, I just… I like other stuff _more_."_

"_Like being a police officer?" M asked with a smile._

_Jane nodded._

"_Will you teach me the stuff you know?" she asked her friend._

"_Well, I… I only really know some of the history and what I've read here at the museum so far. You probably know more about real life cops than I do. Maybe _you _should be teaching _me_," M suggested._

_Jane grinned and put her arms around M's shoulders._

"_We can teach each other," she said quietly. "And I won't even make jokes. Promise."_

_M gave her a look of playful skepticism._

"_I don't believe that for one minute. You wouldn't be _Jane_ if you didn't make jokes about everything," she commented with a laugh._

_The brunette seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding in agreement. With a grin, she corrected herself._

"_Okay, okay. I won't even make jokes… unless they're about you."_

_M laughed and elbowed her playfully in the ribs._

"_Now _that _I'll believe," she laughed with a roll of her eyes._

_With a final, proud grin, Jane pulled her by the hand over to another display to continue exploring the exhibit, asking questions just to hear her talk. And by the end of the day, although Jane would refuse to admit it, it was clear that being excited about learning was no longer _just _M's thing. It was Jane's thing, too... as long as M was the teacher._


End file.
